But Green, 37 -- who later deleted the tweet -- tells Us Weekly that he spoke too soon.

"She was very critical of me. At the time I didn't even know what gender the person was. I was being a little outspoken that night, a little outrageous," he tells Us. "I always expect people to assume that everything I do is part of my character and sense of humor. I assumed that whoever it was would assume it was all in good fun. It wasn't taken so well, apparently."

Green -- who mentors aspiring singers each week on NBC's "The Voice" alongside Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine -- wants his fans to know that he isn't homophobic.

"I most certainly am not harboring any sort of negative feeling toward the gay community. I don't have an opinion on people with different religious, sexual or political preferences," he explains. "I'm one of the most liberal artists that I think you will ever meet, and I pride myself on that. Two of the remaining members that I have on my team on The Voice are proud and outspokenly gay. We just did a team performance of 'Everyday People,' and I picked that song for us to do specifically to highlight how we can get along even though we’re so different."

Though he regrets his choice of words, Green tells Us he shouldn't "have to apologize for speaking my mind or defending my performance."

"If I could take it all back, I would. I was not being serious," he says. "I just wanted to defend our performance. It was only our third show with a whole new crew and we were all really proud about the progress that we had made."